Absorbing Bullets

February 2018

WILSON

When Canada’s Ballistics Technology International pulled its manufacturing operations out of North Carolina, plant manager Mark Fulford decided to keep a good thing going. The expertise, customer base, and good crew were already in place, so he purchased the facility and founded a new company called MOUT Solutions, short for military operations in urban terrain. The change in ownership has been described as seamless as MOUT continues to make firing ranges and training villages for the Department of Defense, law enforcement agencies, and private parties. The company is currently fulfilling major contracts with the Army, Navy, and Marines in various parts of the country. The last piece to fall in place was securing a patent license from the United States Army to continue producing SACON (Shock-Absorbing Concrete). SACON is a low-density, fiber-reinforced concrete foam that absorbs bullets rather than causing them to ricochet to parts unknown. To date, the Army estimates the use of SACON in arms training facilities has saved it $180 million in EPA cleanup costs.